Movie Record 2023 Edition - The Bear and Badger

davyK

The Babadook My first viewing of this was incomplete as I missed the start. Thought it was splendid. Second viewing I thought it was daft.

Watched this again last night (on iPlayer), and I think it's actually rather good.

b0r1s

I thought it was silly.

Moot_Geeza

That film's responsible for the ban of supernatural horror films in my house, ergo it annoys me. Wife was out bingoing (or something) and I had a friend round to watch it. Tilly was about 18mths old and did a synchronised sick over the baby monitor just as a character was freakily vomiting on screen. I made the mistake of telling my wife ("lol guess what happened") and she put her foot all the way down, which is where it's been ever since. She'd stopped watching American Horror Story a couple of nights before because something to do with Tilly freaked her out. I love a good supernatural horror too, but I'm only allowed if Tilly's not in.

I thought the film was good until it went a bit Home Alone.

Moot_Geeza

I got caught watching Candyman during lockdown. I blame Nick.

LivDiv

I hate the kid in Babadook.
Put that boy from Babadook and the girl from Cruise of the Worlds in a car and drive it into the sun.

Also any tv show/movie where there is a baby in the scene and they insist on overlaying baby crying noises the entire time. All those babies can go in the boot.

b0r1s

LivDiv wrote:

I hate the kid in Babadook.

This, which is why I didn't care about it. There was no drama, cos I couldn't stand the kid.

If we're adding to the list, that kid in Les Mis (the film that missus made me watch) - at least he got what was coming to him.

nick_md

Moot_Geeza wrote:

I got caught watching Candyman during lockdown. I blame Nick.

Hooked on a feeling.

davyK

The kid in Babadook is bloody annoying. But he changes near the end - when he ties his possessed mother to the floor.

The kid's weapon/gadget is kind of inexcusable I suppose.

Kow

Isn't his annoyingness kind of the point?

LivDiv

It is. Still annoying though.

nick_md

Bet he's got a song that'll get on your nerves.

Cos

61. Headshot
By the numbers action - guy wakes up in hospital having been shot and left for dead, can't remember much, bad guys find him, violence ensues. There are some well choreographed action scenes and Uwais (from The Raid) is always good value but the rest of the film is fairly average and the ending was sub-par. [5]

62. Elemental
Definitely on the lower tier Pixar. Looks lovely as expected and there's a smattering of really clever jokes throughout but the story is so bland and predictable that I was barely bothered about the outcome. [4]

63. Past Lives
Wonderful drama about two childhood friends and almost sweethearts that connect and lose touch at various points throughout their lives. They reconnect again when one is married leading to explorations of what might have been, lost loves and reassessing of lives. In other hands this would be a corny romcom with the husband as a villain of sorts but here it's a simply told but absorbing story about how two people maybe just missed their chance. There are more layers than can be covered here but full of well realised characters and beautifully shot. [9]

64. Bad Lieutenant
How a story about a man's sanity starting to unravel can be so boring is the biggest surprise here. It seemed like a whole film built around generating shock value. Despite that, Keitel commits himself to it completely and is by far the best thing about it. Maybe a film of it's time but if so it has aged badly. [4]

Moot_Geeza

The Cage Lieutenant is much better than the Keitel one imo.

Kow

I watched Elemental a while back and it was ok, but the main male character, the wet guy, was just that - wet. He was really dull, annoying and unlikeable. I mean he was a fucking council worker, a pipe inspector. I could see no reason why the fiery young wan would have any interest in him. When he first appeared I presumed he was there to introduce her to somebody else.

Re Bad Lieutentant, watch the Werner Herzog remake with Nicholas Cage. It's miles better.

nick_md

Nah they're both good but the Ferrara one is great.

Wookienopants

b0r1s wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

I hate the kid in Babadook.

This, which is why I didn't care about it. There was no drama, cos I couldn't stand the kid.

If we're adding to the list, that kid in Les Mis (the film that missus made me watch) - at least he got what was coming to him.

Oh god he was awful. I know it's the point but I hated him to the point when I wanted him to just be taken

Cos

Yeah, I watched the Herzog/Cage one a few years ago and thought it was great. Maybe it affected my opinion of the Ferrara version but can't imagine liking it much more.

davyK

Wookienopants wrote:

b0r1s wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

I hate the kid in Babadook.

This, which is why I didn't care about it. There was no drama, cos I couldn't stand the kid. If we're adding to the list, that kid in Les Mis (the film that missus made me watch) - at least he got what was coming to him.

Oh god he was awful. I know it's the point but I hated him to the point when I wanted him to just be taken

He was like the Aga Saga woman's son. Tedious tyke.

Cos

65. The Creator
Well this was very disappointing. It just didn't work on so many levels - some dreadful performances with Washington being uneven at best, a bad script full of plot holes and shortcuts, and overall a decent idea with shambolic execution. Not to mention how heavily a lot of the aesthetics and production design had been borrowed. At this point I just don't think Edwards makes particularly good films. I could rant about this one for a while but it's not worth it, some redeeming features stop it being a total car crash but still below average from start to finish. [4]

66. Let Him Go
Neo-western of sorts set in 60s Montana. And that's the most interesting thing about an absolute dud of a film. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane's grandson is taken away when their daughter in law remarries to a violent man, who turns out to be part of nasty family a state over. The film plays out exactly how you expect, throws in some lazy stereotypes along the way and pretends to have a heart. It gets an extra point for the stunning scenery and cinematography. [2]

67. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
If this had been half the run time, I probably would have loved it. Instead it feels the need to overcomplicate a simple narrative and maybe tries to have some kind of commentary on social media for about 5 minutes? Take out the excess and the core is an incredibly well made animation-live action hybrid with a brilliant main character and bags of charm. Some great jokes dotted through, though not quite enough to sustain there's also a warm nature at its heart. Enjoyable but patchy. [6]

68. The Hunt
Mikkelsen is brilliant, as he often is, in this slow burn drama and well supported by a great cast. It's part fascinating, part infuriating as you watch the mistakes and assumptions by others in this small community compound to turn a small lie into a life changing event. It's gripping to the point where you start to question what the truth actually is, has part of the story been hidden from the viewer? The relief at a certain point is palpable but the ending leaves no doubt that the consequences remain. [8]

And that's me up to date finally!

Moot_Geeza

Forgot about The Hunt, that was great.

Moot_Geeza

I watched Reptile on Netflix this week. Enjoyed it, despite the fact that it felt eerily like an above average crime thriller unearthed from the early noughties from start to finish. Wouldn't have regretted buying it on dvd anyway.

Moot_Geeza

Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse

The Marvel films lost me a bit with all the multiverse stuff; the overkill crept in ages ago imo. In animated Spidey form it's perfect though. Such a groovy movie.

Cinema trip for the next one I think.

ShabbyMcCrabby

Cosby and I aligned a lot with thoughts on various films in those catch ups. Interesting.

Need to watch The Hunt.

ShabbyMcCrabby

120. Sharksploitation
Pretty fun little doco about shark movies through the years. Probably not very engaging if you don't care about them but it's nice to see the timeline after Jaws.
[5]

121. Killers of the Flower Moon
Scorcese has a story type I guess. It's an interesting setting and it's well told for the most part. But it's too long for something that isn't really a deep character study. Plus I don't like Leo, I think he wishes he was a character actor but instead it's just Leo pulling a face, but only sometimes because he can never keep it up.
[6]

Gremill

60. 22 Jump Street
Really leans into the sequel cliche and is absolutely bonkers from start to finish. Very funny. 8

Gremill

61. The Babadook
A low budget and tense Australian psychological horror dealing with why your children deserve to die for what they have done to you (literally and figuratively). Two incredible central performances carry what is, on the surface at least, one of those supernatural stalker movies in the vein of It Follows or Smile but it's not as good as the former and thankfully nowhere near as bad as the latter. It's really about coping with unresolved grief and parental isolation and has some pretty haunting and disturbing stuff in it. Enjoyable if not particularly frightening stuff. 8

davyK

Babadook is unsettling and a bit depressing. There's a feeling of sadness and doom about it but I suppose that's by design.

Even those late night b&w silent film clips were creepy.

ShabbyMcCrabby

If you want another Australian horror film that is actually about other stuff then you should watch Relic. It's very good.

davyK

Will Skippy be on the TV? He was in Babbadook. +1 for me.

Kow

All Australian film must make reference to Skippy at some point. It's in the constitution.

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